Nearly one in three Colorado third-graders are not proficient readers, a statistic the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce hopes to change by supporting early-literacy legislation in the upcoming session.

Kids who can’t read or are poor readers are four times more likely to drop out, chamber president and chief executive officer Kelly Brough told business and legislative leaders Monday.

“Between 60 and 70 percent of jobs in the future will require some level of college,” she said. “But if we can’t get them out of high school, we can’t get them in college.”

Brough said Colorado leaders need solutions for how to fund schools.

Education is one of the chamber’s three “pillars” as it looks to boost job creation. The other two are transportation and health care.

Brough said the chamber is analyzing how to get the FasTracks rail system built faster than the current completion date of 2042.

“Economic investment goes where the lines go,” Brough said. “There are long-term opportunities for return, and that attracts investments.”

Over the next month, the chamber is studying a road plan proposed by the Colorado Department of Transportation, with an eye on possible involvement.

Brough sees “additional bills” arising to tweak Colorado’s health-insurance exchange that was passed last year. The exchange is a key piece of the federal Affordable Care Act.

State Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, who co-sponsored the health-exchange legislation, said she doesn’t expect much legislation this session, although “the big question this year is what will be in the essential benefits package.”

House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, promised that “we will do what we can to clear the way to create jobs” by providing stability to regulations and to the budget.

Collaboration by Colorado’s political leaders is an enticement for relocating here, said Gov. John Hickenlooper, who added, “It’s not all Rockies and days of sunshine.”

Last year, 80 of 100 legislators joined in approving the state budget, he said, admitting, “This being an election year, that might be a more difficult hill to climb.”

Of 10 reasons that businesses said are important in relocations to Colorado, being 60 minutes from an international airport is No. 1, chamber research shows.

Tom Clark, chief executive of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said airport proximity is new to the list.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”